Perry County School Bus Fatal Wreck

(Perry County, MO) A bus driver for Perryville School District 32, 72 year old James E. Kennedy of Perryville, is dead after he was killed in an accident involving the school bus he was driving and a dump truck Tuesday morning in Perry County. No students were on the bus at the time of the accident since Highway Patrol reports show the wreck occurred just after 6 am before the bus route began. The report also indicates Kennedy was driving the school bus south on Route K, north of Bluebird Lane, when he failed to negotiate a curve to the right. Kennedy overcorrected and the front left of the bus struck the left front of the dump truck that was being driven north by 45 year old Chad M. Taylor of Ste. Genevieve. The school bus ran off the left side of the road and smashed into a culvert. Kennedy was pronounced dead at the scene. Taylor was not injured. Neither Kennedy nor Taylor was wearing a safety device when the wreck took place.